Washington State Twittersphere 6/5: Jalen Canty Recants on Cougs and More!

This week’s trip around the Wazzu Twittersphere takes us on an emotional journey of highs and lows, excitement and frustration, and new beginnings and disappointing endings. Such is the life of a sports fan. The peaks and valleys that come with following your favorite team make it that much sweeter when things go your way and that much more painful when they don’t. Due to the explosion of the Wazzu Twittersphere, this week’s edition will be split into 2 separate editions. Part 1 will cover the highs and lows of recruiting. Part 2 will feature player reactions to the FOB and other exciting Cougar news. With that being said, let’s go straight to the tweets!

RECRUITING – THE BAD NEWS

Last night, I fired up Twitter on my iPhone to continue my journey around the Wazzu Twittersphere. Interestingly, this tweet by Jalen Canty was the first thing I saw. For some funny reason, I immediately thought Canty’s tweet was related to his future at Washington State. I have a funny way of thinking (some may call it pessimism) but I tried to approach this tweet with cautious optimism. What are the odds that the first random tweet I saw would be Jalen Canty talking about his future (or lack thereof) at WSU? No chance, right?

Maybe he broke up with his girlfriend, I thought. Maybe he decided to eat Frosted Flakes this morning instead of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Like he said…it’s his life, right? He can eat whatever cereal he wants. I continued to refresh my Twitter every 5 seconds in hopes of a further explanation. Well, it turns out I got all that…and more.

At first, I thought this was some kind of joke that Canty was playing. Was he pranking his friends? No. Why would he do that? Is it April Fool’s Day? No. It’s the 4th of June. Eventually, the tweets kept coming in and I came to the realization that Canty’s career at WSU was now over before it even began. Understandably, the first emotions that hit me were negative – anger, confusion, disappointment, and sadness. However, after reading Canty’s next tweet, I was able to put things into perspective. Sure, this 2-sport, 6’8″, 260 lbs. athletic freak of nature would no longer be hitting the gridiron or hardwood for the Cougars, but it seemed as if there was a deeper issue than something related to sports.

My initial disappointment stemmed from the fact that Canty was the incoming freshman who I was most excited about. I vividly remember the day he committed to WSU as I continually refreshed my Twitter, waiting for his announcement. When he finally tweeted his decision to attend WSU, I let out a (very manly) shout for joy. Although he was raw, scouts and coaches raved about his untapped potential that many thought could have him playing on Sundays. With some time in the weight room and 4-5 years of tutelage under Coach Joe, the possibilities seemed endless. Oh, and did I mention that he also had a spot on the WSU basketball team?

Ultimately, however, a student athlete’s well-being should be the most important thing we take into consideration when evaluating their life decisions. Sometimes, as Nick pointed out, we forget that student-athletes are people, too. They have friends, families, emotions, personal preferences, unique personalities, and a life outside of sports that we, as fans, don’t think about nearly enough. Sure, we see these athletes lace up for 12-14 Saturdays a year. But what about the other 38-40 weeks of the year? Is a D-1 scholarship enough to make someone happy in a place where they don’t feel at home? If people are telling you that you have the potential to play in the NFL, should you pursue that career path even if your heart isn’t really in it? For Canty, the answer to both of these questions was a resounding (and somewhat surprising) no. Whether I’m reading too much into his tweets or not, I’ll never know. But what I do know is that I, along with the rest of the WSU family, wish him nothing but the best as he continues his basketball career at Casper College in Wyoming (Canty later tweeted that he is quitting football altogether).

RECRUITING – THE GOOD NEWS

Let’s hope that 3-star RB James Williams sticks with his commitment to the Cougars despite the plethora of scholarship offers that are surely headed his way. So far, so good!

Brett Bartolone and former 4-star recruit/ex-UCLA Bruin/future WSU Coug Aaron Porter go way back. Welcome to the Cougar family, Aaron!

Coach Joe doin’ work! Keep doing your thing, Coach!

More help is on the way after the departure of standout kicker and fan favorite Andrew Furney!

Uncle Drew aka Kyrie Irving gave a shout out to Trevor Dunbar, the newest member of WSU’s basketball team.

I have plenty of Filipino friends who are excited about this. Welcome to Pullman, Trevor! As for Chauca…you will surely regret your decision to attend Cal over Wazzu. Go Cougs!

Thank you for taking the journey around the Wazzu Twittersphere with us. Make sure to tweet us at @allcougdup or email us at allcougdup@gmail.com with the best Coug-related tweets of the week for a chance to be featured on our posts. Until next time…Go Cougs!